The next act of the Trump administration: Chinese and Chinese-built ships are to be charged high fees for port calls in the USA.
The US Trade Representative (US Trade Representative) has made public plans to charge high additional fees for port calls in US ports for all ships with a connection to China. The reason given for the plan is “China’s practices aimed at dominating the shipping, logistics and shipbuilding sectors.”
The US Trade Representative is calling for port charges of up to €1.5 million for Chinese-owned freighters and Chinese-built ships – for ship calls at a US port. US President Donald Trump has the final say.
A general import duty of 10% has already been imposed on all imported goods from China. Chinese investments in US infrastructure are also to be prohibited. For example, the state-owned shipping company Cosco currently has a stake in the container port of Long Beach.
At the same time, the US Trade Representative is calling for a strengthening of the domestic merchant fleet. Specifically, he is calling for 1% of all US export products to be transported by US shipping companies on US-flagged ships, with this figure rising to 5% within three years and to 15% from the seventh year onwards.
